This July and August, make 100 blessings a day. Jewish tradition teaches this time-tested formula for getting over our selves and ascending into the realm of God’s great goodness. It’s the spiritual equivalent of drinking the recommended 64 fluid ounces of water each day.
Making 100 blessings a day helps us find God and good in our lives. Our lives are wrapped up in so much negativity. Making 100 blessings a day, from the moment our eyes open until they close at night, let’s us see that God’s little and large blessings are always available to us.
You can make them up as you go along: Baruch Atah Adonai – You are praised, our God … fill in the blank.
Baruch Atah Adonai … I’m awake!
Baruch Atah Adonai … my body still works!
Baruch Atah Adonai … You provide all sorts of food for the hungry!
Baruch Atah Adonai … I am satisfied with what I ate and drank!
Baruch Atah Adonai … You have created this world in all its glory!
Baruch Atah Adonai … You create the seasons (even the hot and humid ones)!
You can find time-tested blessings in any siddur (check out Siddur Hadash on Shabbat evenings or mornings or just stop in at the UJC and glance through a copy). You can find an assortment on line.
Wherever you find them, whatever you say, aim at making 100 blessings each day from July 1 through August 31. Your summer, your soul, will thank you.
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